🍎 Plurals in English
📖 In short
To make a noun plural in English we usually add s: cat → cats. But some words take es or ies, and some change completely, like child → children.
🔎 The lesson
1 Add s
- a book → booksBook → books
- a dog → dogsDog → dogs
- a car → carsCar → cars
2 Add es
If a noun ends in s, x, sh, ch or o, we add es to make it easier to say.
- a bus → busesBus → buses
- a box → boxesBox → boxes
- a dish → dishesDish → dishes
- a tomato → tomatoesTomato → tomatoes
3 y becomes ies
If there's a consonant before the y, we drop the y and add ies.
- a baby → babiesBaby → babies
- a city → citiesCity → cities
- a boy → boysBoy → boys (vowel before the y)
4 Irregular plurals
| Singular | Addition | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| child | children | Child / children |
| man | men | Man / men |
| woman | women | Woman / women |
| foot | feet | Foot / feet |
| tooth | teeth | Tooth / teeth |
| mouse | mice | Mouse / mice |
| sheep | sheep | Sheep / sheep |
📊 In a picture
💡 Watch out!
- fish and sheep stay the same in the plural: one fish, two fish.
🧩 Test yourself
1 What is the plural of box?
2 What is the plural of baby?
3 What is the plural of child?
→ a, an and the← Pronouns in English